The Painful Truth-Herbert W. Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God
Understanding the psychology of religious seduction and spiritual abuse.
My dear children, and believe Me, that is all of you, I consider Myself a pretty patient guy. I mean, look at the Grand Canyon. It took millions of years to get it right. And about evolution? Boy, nothing is slower than designing that whole Darwinian thing to take place cell by cell and gene by gene.
āThen many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow coldā (Matthew 24:11-12).
Wolves, in their own environment, bring balance to nature, but when thereās a wolf in sheepās clothing, and heās behind the pulpit, itās bad news because heās only interested in fleecing the flock and then devouring the sheep.
The Apostle Peter saw it in his day, writing thatĀ āfalse prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destructionāĀ (2 Pet 2:1).
In the current times, many of us can relate to the prophet Jeremiahās words: āMy heart within me is broken because of the [false] prophets; all my bones shake … because of the Lord, and because of His holy wordsā (23:9). God declared, āāFor both prophet and priest are profane; yes, in My house I have found their wickedness,ā says the Lordā (23:11).
If your church is not focused primarily on the Person and the work of Jesus Christ, it is not Christocentric.Ā That means, it is not Christ focused, and remember, Jesus said the Holy Spirit will testify of Him (John 15:26), and so Godās teachers should testify of Christ too.